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Well since small government is apparently racist I'll just pack up my "the government has no business telling you what not to smoke" rhetoric and leave. I know

Well since small government is apparently racist I'll just pack up my "the government has no business telling you what not to smoke" rhetoric and leave. I know this might be hard to believe but some people actually believe that all of society would benefit from less government involvement in all manner of things. Calling all that racist looks like you're just trying to find an excuse to dismiss it without having to make an argument for why it won't work.

asveikau 7y ago
Some emphasis added: Me: A lot of the ... rhetoric You: Calling all that racist By pointing out this, I don't believe I called the views themselves, nor any specific adherent to the viewpoint, let alone 100% of them, racist. Just that "a lot" of the rhetoric comes from this. Which it does. Meanwhile, did you listen to the Lee Atwater clip? Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT2fsv7xt4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT2fsv7xt4E This aligns pretty well with the rise of Reagan (for whom Atwater worked) and the late 20th century to present wave of "small government" politicians who somehow, shockingly, seem to rack up massive debts without a care when they are in power. Lastly, > you're just trying to find an excuse to dismiss it without having to make an argument for why it won't work. Health care is the perfect such argument, actually. Look at the rest of the developed world, or even something low overhead like Medicare [which doesn't need massive advertising budgets or, say, thousands of redundant billing companies], and tell me the US private sector does a better job.
Frondo 7y ago
I sincerely wish those people would actually come up with specific workable policies that demonstrated an interest in small government that wasn't race-based. Like, take small government on a local level. You cut the city budget by a third, which part are you cutting? Do you cut the police budget? Do you cut the parks? Public transportation? Public health services? Some of those will impact communities of color more than others. So be specific and say "yes, I want to cut public transportation, recognizing that it disproportionately hits communities of color." And we can talk about that, instead of just "well small government is better". Or what would you cut at the federal level, to have a smaller government? Housing and urban development, which again predominantly benefits communities of color? The military? The legendary farm bill? Depending on how you rejigger the government, I'm all for a smaller one. Cut the military down to a hundredth its size and institute medicare for all and free higher ed and you're probably still smaller than you started. But these days, in general, there's a lot of overlap in the venn diagram of "smaller government" and "cut policies that help communities of color," and that's why people are quick to call small government republicans racist. (That and the racism that a lot of republicans now openly display.)

asveikau 7y ago

Some emphasis added: Me: A lot of the ... rhetoric You: Calling all that racist By pointing out this, I don't believe I called the views themselves, nor any specific adherent to the viewpoint, let alone 100% of them, racist. Just that "a lot" of the rhetoric comes from this. Which it does. Meanwhile, did you listen to the Lee Atwater clip? Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT2fsv7xt4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT2fsv7xt4E This aligns pretty well with the rise of Reagan (for whom Atwater worked) and the late 20th century to present wave of "small government" politicians who somehow, shockingly, seem to rack up massive debts without a care when they are in power. Lastly, > you're just trying to find an excuse to dismiss it without having to make an argument for why it won't work. Health care is the perfect such argument, actually. Look at the rest of the developed world, or even something low overhead like Medicare [which doesn't need massive advertising budgets or, say, thousands of redundant billing companies], and tell me the US private sector does a better job.

Frondo 7y ago

I sincerely wish those people would actually come up with specific workable policies that demonstrated an interest in small government that wasn't race-based. Like, take small government on a local level. You cut the city budget by a third, which part are you cutting? Do you cut the police budget? Do you cut the parks? Public transportation? Public health services? Some of those will impact communities of color more than others. So be specific and say "yes, I want to cut public transportation, recognizing that it disproportionately hits communities of color." And we can talk about that, instead of just "well small government is better". Or what would you cut at the federal level, to have a smaller government? Housing and urban development, which again predominantly benefits communities of color? The military? The legendary farm bill? Depending on how you rejigger the government, I'm all for a smaller one. Cut the military down to a hundredth its size and institute medicare for all and free higher ed and you're probably still smaller than you started. But these days, in general, there's a lot of overlap in the venn diagram of "smaller government" and "cut policies that help communities of color," and that's why people are quick to call small government republicans racist. (That and the racism that a lot of republicans now openly display.)